TY - JOUR
T1 - Inappropriate antibiotic use in Zimbabwe in the COVID-19 era: a perfect recipe for antimicrobial resistance
AU - Chitungo, Itai
AU - Dzinamarira, Tafadzwa
AU - Nyazika, Tinashe K.
AU - Herrera, Helena
AU - Musuka, Godfrey
AU - Murewanhema, Grant
PY - 2022/2/13
Y1 - 2022/2/13
N2 - The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an upsurge in antimicrobial use. The increase in use is multifactorial, and is particularly related to the empirical treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and suspected coinfections with antimicrobials and the limited quality of diagnostics to differentiate viral and bacterial pneumonia. The lack of clear clinical guidelines across a wide range of settings, and the inadequacy of public health sectors in many countries, have contributed to this pattern. The increased use of antimicrobials has the potential to increase incidences of antimicrobial resistance, especially in low-resource countries such as Zimbabwe already grappling with multidrug-resistant micro-organism strains. By adopting the antimicrobial stewardship principles of the correct prescription and optimised use of antimicrobials, as well as diagnostic stewardship, revamping regulatory oversight of antimicrobial surveillance may help limit the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance during this pandemic.
AB - The global COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an upsurge in antimicrobial use. The increase in use is multifactorial, and is particularly related to the empirical treatment of SARS-CoV-2 and suspected coinfections with antimicrobials and the limited quality of diagnostics to differentiate viral and bacterial pneumonia. The lack of clear clinical guidelines across a wide range of settings, and the inadequacy of public health sectors in many countries, have contributed to this pattern. The increased use of antimicrobials has the potential to increase incidences of antimicrobial resistance, especially in low-resource countries such as Zimbabwe already grappling with multidrug-resistant micro-organism strains. By adopting the antimicrobial stewardship principles of the correct prescription and optimised use of antimicrobials, as well as diagnostic stewardship, revamping regulatory oversight of antimicrobial surveillance may help limit the occurrence of antimicrobial resistance during this pandemic.
KW - COVID-19
KW - antimicrobial resistance
KW - antimicrobial stewardship
U2 - 10.3390/antibiotics11020244
DO - 10.3390/antibiotics11020244
M3 - Article
VL - 11
JO - Antibiotics
JF - Antibiotics
IS - 2
M1 - 244
ER -